


What He Needs

by CallYouByYourName



Series: Sublime Verse [3]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Light BDSM, M/M, Master and pet, soft bdsm is soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 07:00:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20372614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallYouByYourName/pseuds/CallYouByYourName
Summary: Even tyrants are permitted to feel lonely or isolated, now and then. And tonight, well, he does.A/N: This is a repost - It still belongs to the sublime verse, but I think it's sweet and hot enough to merit it's own story. Enjoy! <3





	What He Needs

This is why, sometimes, it’s very good to be a despotic ruler, who’s able to keep an adoring human pet, one that can be called upon at a moment’s notice.

Lucio, working late one night, is gradually overcome by a killing combination of weariness and melancholy. The entire kingdom, it sometimes seems, is moving against him. No one understands his motives. No one appreciates him. Nearly everyone around him thinks he’s cold, heartless… never mind that he’s worked hard to cultivate such a reputation, and enjoys the benefits of it almost daily. Even tyrants are permitted to feel lonely or isolated, now and then. And tonight, well, he does.

Lucio is tired. He’s tired of thankless work and invisible outcomes. He needs, even more than political support or the comfort of luxury… well, cheering up. He needs… adoration? Yes, that’s it! Veneration. A little worship does wonders for lifting the spirits!

Mentally, he looks through is short list of trusted colleagues and associates. Nadia is no good for this sort of thing. Valerius? Ugh, no. Valerius will only look at him as if he’s a fool for even summoning him, and he will be. There are some new servants he’s had his eye on, but new playthings always require so much work to be made suitable…

What about Julian?

Yes. Julian is what he needs, and right away. Quickly, Lucio rings a bell to summon a servant, and sends for him.

There’s a little wait. If it goes on too long Lucio will have to hold it against him, but that can be pleasant in it’s own way. At some point there’s a soft knock, too timid to be anything but a palace servant - his secretary has gone home, then. That’s just as well.

“Come.”

“My lord.” The very sound of his voice is a panacea to Lucio’s weariness, and he feels lighter, less weighted down with cares, as soon as he hears it. Julian is admitted by the servant into Lucio’s private office, which is both large and ornate, if very seldom private. He enters with an air of self-possession and lowers himself smoothly to his knees, bowing his head as if he’s addressing foreign royalty. Lucio smiles; Julian always seems to sense what’s called for - this is perfect. He is perfect.

Lucio allows himself a moment to take him in, admiring his submissive posturing, the care with which he’s dressed, the lines of his shoulders and the angle of his bowed head: he’s… oh. He’s so very lovely. So attuned to Lucio’s tastes and his desires. It makes Lucio ache to look at him.

He would already have eaten and bathed, and should have had time to prepare himself if the servant caught him in Lucio’s quarters or his own, which is where Lucio would expect him to be at this time of night. He would have been anticipating Lucio’s late arrival when he was summoned.

He looks it; his unruly curls are clean and brushed, if still falling stubbornly into his eyes. His skin gleams, touched here and there with makeup, his eyes subtly outlined to make them stand out. A stripe of gold glows at the dead center of his pretty lips, drawing the eye. He’s dressed in a long robe of thick gold silk, an expensive thing that Lucio favors on him, intricately decorated with a pattern of flowers and vines, and delicate slippers on his feet. The robe is modestly buttoned and also tied at the waist, but he’s left enough skin showing at his throat this his collar is visible, only just.

“Ilya.” Lucio says his name quietly, and Julian lifts his head, his expression softly eager. “Come here to me,” Lucio commands, pushing away from his desk and holding out a hand.

Lucio’s pet rises with grace, approaching him soundlessly his slippered feet, and takes his hand. His lips brush the backs of Lucio’s knuckles in a courtly kiss.

“How may I serve you, my lord?” It’s a polite question, and one that Lucio hears many times a day, but from Julian it’s pure seduction: his voice is velvet, and the look in his eyes is sin. Lucio feels a melting, falling sensation. He feels as if there is a light glowing in his chest, the one only fills him completely when his beloved creature is near. Lucio smiles into his face.

“I have been too many hours chained to the bureaucratic machinery of government,” he says, formally. “I require… distraction. Alleviation of tension. Release.”

“Yes, my lord.” Even as he acquiesces, Julian widens his eyes and touches his own his cheek with the fingertips of one hand, coquettishly as if he’s innocently shocked by this request. Turning his head to one side, parting his lips, Julian looks down at him through his long lashes, which Lucio can see now that he’s dusted with gold. It makes his eyes look gilded and strange, exotic.

Drawing him closer by the hand he still holds, he slides a hand past the heavy fold of Julian’s robe to investigate the layers beneath. He finds only his warm skin as he moves a hand slowly up one veiled thigh, pleased. “Are you wearing anything under this robe?” He asks abruptly, curious. Julian blushes prettily, looking down.

“Why, ah… n-no, my lord!” he stammers. At Lucio’s approving half-smile, he improves upon it with: “I would hate to… provide any impediment to your enjoyment of your property, should you wish to allow me the honor of serving you,” he explains. A subtle smile curls the edges of his mouth, threatening at any moment to become his trademark smirk. Julian is teasing him, but so sweetly that he has no way to complain, and no reason to.

“Good.” Lucio says, simply. He draws him closer with the expedient of a hand in his robe’s belt, pulling the doctor into his lap and running his hands along his sides, feeling his warmth through the silk. Something private unfolds in Lucio, a guarded affection like a night-blooming flower. This close, he can smell the sandalwood oil on his skin - a favorite - and the rose-scented oil he’s used on his hair. Lucio threads a golden hand into that hair, running claws delicately over his scalp to make him shiver. “You are a such a lovely creature,” he sighs, meaning it.

With a shy smile, the doctor leans down to kiss his mouth. The gold dust on his lips tastes like honey. Lucio runs his up his thigh beneath the robe, enjoying the feel of him beneath his fingers. When he reaches between his legs to gently stroke his cock Julian makes a soft, needy sound of pleasure, and Lucio enjoys that too.

“Thank you,” the doctor murmurs, as they draw apart. His powerful voice is especially demure tonight, barely more than a whisper. “But I must warn you,” he adds, drawing his knees up on either side of Lucio’s thighs as he folds his long legs, sliding his palms up Lucio’s chest, “That I am the exclusive property of the cruel and powerful Count of Vesuvia, and he doesn’t easily share his possessions.” Coyly, almost with the look of one doing a strip tease, he tugs the neck of his robe open ever so slightly, displaying to Lucio the tags on his collar.

”What a fortunate man,” Lucio purrs, his tasks, “to own such a treasure.” Julian tips his head back, and Lucio kisses his tags, and then his collar, and then sucks at his elegant throat. Julian slips his fingers into Lucio’s hair, caressing him… then his caresses fall away as he leans backward, bowing his back, making an offering of himself as he falls across Lucio’s desk. His upper body is still modestly hidden, but his movement bares his long thighs to Lucio’s gaze, as well as the outline of his cock which is already beginning to firm. It’s an excellent view, in Lucio’s opinion.

He accepts the invitation readily, pushing his knees apart so he can kiss his way along his pet’s smooth inner thighs, slowly beginning to bite, marveling as he often does at the simple beauty of him, desire rising in him like a tide. His fingers and claws trail up his hips, pushing at the silk that still separates them, taking his time, letting his eyes rove greedily over Doctor Devorak’s splayed form before he closes a fist around his stiffening cock, stroking him gently. The doctor moans delightfully, arching his back… and there’s a knock at the door.

Julian, doesn’t even look up, his chest rising and falling with his breath as he waits on Lucio’s pleasure - at times Lucio does enjoy showing off his prize, or using him for shock value, while at others he quickly tells him to dress or even ushers him smoothly from the room. There’s no telling which he’ll want at any given time, but Julian’s been trained to avoid making assumptions — now he waits, spread out and half-exposed on Lucio’s desk, his cock unashamedly on display, listening for his command.

“Get under the desk,” Lucio husks, fingers already fumbling at his trousers. More loudly, he tells the unseen visitor, “Come!”

The doctor hurries to obey, and in a moment he’s kneeling under Lucio’s broad desk, fully hidden from view as the door opens to admit the guest.

“Ah, Countess!” Lucio greets her. “What a pleasant surprise, my dear! I should have thought you’d have retired for the evening by now.” Lucio doesn’t need to see Julian in order to sense his unease. Discreetly he reaches beneath the desk, stroking his pet’s hair to soothe him, as Nadia lowers herself into one of the padded chairs opposite Lucio.

“Ordinarily I would be, of course. But we’re expecting the arrival of our friends from Atapra, as I’m sure you recall, and there’s been a delay in the preparations their visit…”

Lucio makes sympathetic sounds as he listens to her recital of diplomatic problems, knowing she wants to talk more than she wants anything else - meanwhile he uses the hand in Julian’s hair to guide him between his thighs, where he’s already unzipped and unbuttoned, ready for his pet’s loving attention. Julian understands, and Lucio has to bite down hard on a groan as he feels him carefully take out his prick, then apply his attentive lips and tongue to the unrushed task of making him hard. He sucks and caresses him with attentive delicacy, all the not-inconsiderable skill of his surgeon’s fingers, his clever mouth, now focused on the perfect channeling of Lucio’s pleasure.

In no time at all he’s growing thick and stiff in his mouth, and can only caress him in secret to show his appreciation. He strokes Julian’s cheek and feels him nuzzle against his hand, kissing his palm sweetly, without a sound. He feels a rush of impatience for Nadi to be gone. Instead they talk on and on for a long time - far too long, for his liking - while Julian tends to his needs, tirelessly, just like the good and obedient creature he is.

Because he has no idea how long he’ll be down there, and because Lucio hasn’t gripped his hair to force himself down his throat, (one sure sign that he wants to fill his mouth with cum at once), he pleasures him with more tenderness than heat, and in a less than urgent manner, so as to give him sustained sensation without increasing the tension too dramatically.

Oh! This is intolerable. Lucio *needs* him, and more with each passing moment.

Finally, *finally*, Nadia concludes her unending complaints to say goodnight. Obviously he doesn’t rise to see her out, but she doesn’t seem to notice the oversight. Lucio kisses her before she goes, careful to block her view of his doting pet, and then she’s gone.

Lucio stills his Julian’s movements with a heavy hand rest atop his head, waiting. The only sign of his tension is the tightening of his grip in his hair. When a long moment has passed, exactly enough time to be sure they’re alone, Lucio rises to lock the door. His trousers are still undone, his hard prick flushed rosy with arousal and primed by almost an hour’s worth of devotion, stands proudly at attention. Julian still kneels beneath his desk, waiting although he’s leant halfway out to watch him.

Lucio takes the opportunity to avail himself of slightly better seating, throwing himself down into a small, padded couch positioned beneath a shuttered window.

“Julian.” In an instant his darling is once again before him, once again on his knees.

“My lord?” His mouth is red and slightly swollen from the hour he’s spent between Lucio’s thighs. He’s tousled, his robe, still tied at the throat but spread to either side of his knees, intentionally, to reveal his own insistent arousal. Tentatively he touches Lucio’s knees with his fingertips. He’s ready, at a sign from Lucio, to push his legs apart and take him into his mouth again, to pleasure him for as long as he likes or to bring him at once to an immediate shuddering climax. Most nights, Lucio would come in his throat and then pull him up into his arms to be kissed while he strokes his cock until he spills in his hand, crying out Lucio’s name.

But tonight, Lucio only murmurs, “No. Did you bring any with you?”

Julian blushes, and shakes his head. At Lucio’s disappointed look, he stammers, “I, ah… I.. did it before I came.”

Lucio raises his brows.

“I… prepared myself before I came. In case you, that is, wanted me?” He bites his lower lip, embarrassed.

“I see. What excellent foresight, my darling,” he approves Lucio’s fingers make quick work of his own shirt, which he discards.

“These, too?” Julian reaches helpfully for his waistband, fingers hooked in the edges. Lucio nods.

“All of it.”

Swiftly, Julian finishes undressing him. Privately, secretly, Lucio adores this kind of personal service, the careful attention, the way Julian sees to his needs without having to be asked. It makes him feel… important. Cared-for.

Once Lucio is naked, Julian rises. Looking into Lucio’s eyes, Julian slides his robe off and lets it fall. When Lucio sees what he’s been hiding, he reaches out with an amused expression, beckons with one curt motion so that Julian draws near, and then he takes hold of him by his newly revealed accessory.

“I didn’t give these to you! Where did you…?”

Julian nibbles at his lower lip, smiles shyly. “In the market. Do you like them?”

Attached to his collar by thin gold chains, tight clamps squeeze each of the doctor’s his already-sensitive nipples, which are now swollen and slightly red. The chains, studded with tiny sapphires, are long enough to hang in elegant loops almost to his stomach.

“I love them,” Lucio says, honestly. He knows this is for him, that Julian would have chosen these to please him, bought them in secret, waited for the right opportunity to surprise him… he feels himself fill with helpless affection at the gesture. He tugs at the chain, lightly, which makes Julian gasp, the color rising up his throat and all the way into his face. “You’re a vision.”

His pet blushes again, but with pleasure. “Am I? You look like a god,“ he whispers, eyes wide and dark as he drops to his knees again, unbidden. Prostrating himself, he kisses Lucio’s bare feet in a display of reverence. “Show me how to worship,” hemurmurs, his voice silken and dark. The effect on Lucio is both immediate and devastating.

“My lap, now,” Lucio growls. He makes no attempt to hide the effects of Devorak’s well-delivered performance ; he sees, or imagines he sees, a fleeting look of triumph on the other man’s face, quickly replaced by one of obeisance.

“Yes, my lord!”

Julian hurries to obey, scrambling off his knees to straddle his lap. Lucio checks that he’s really prepared himself properly, and is surprised again, to find that he’s wearing a small plug. He quirks an eyebrow at Julian, who only smiles, perhaps a bit sheepishly.

“I thought that maybe…?” He admits.

“You were right,” Lucio says, drawing it slowly out of him. It’s another of Lucio’s favorites, its visible end metallic and decorated with jewels. He slides two fingers into him to see if he’s applied enough oil (he‘s been generous with it), then uses it as an excuse to finger him until he begins to moan, letting his head fall back, arching against him, eager for more. Satisfied, Lucio leans back in his seat, eyes half-closed, hands on his pet’s finely-made hips as he looks up at him like a love-drunk youth.

“Do it,” he breathes. “Do it now. I need to be inside.”

Julian makes a soft sound of happiness and positions himself with care, as he gives him a smile of unexpected sweetness, almost shy. Then he’s guiding Lucio inside him, to where he’s open and ready, having prepared just for this, just in case Lucio should want this.

“More,” Lucio breathes.

Julian leans in to soothe him with a kiss, even as he obeys. He gives a few shallow thrusts, pausing with every inch he takes in, relaxing around him then rising so that he slides out of him almost completely, only the sensitive head of Lucio’s cock still inside, being squeezed by the tight ring of muscle at his entrance, then drives down on him again, deeper… Lucio feels his own body wanting to thrust, but he suppresses it, not without effort, allowing himself the rare pleasure of ceding control.

It’s rare, even now, for him to give up any measure of control, but his pet knows the needs of his body so well, is so good at giving him what he needs, that he trusts him with it. Julian is still working himself on Lucio’s throbbing length, every movement good but never enough, driving down on him and slowly backing off, only to do it again. Only when he’s taken every inch of him in this deliberate way does he sink down onto him with a gasp and a soft groan, taking him in completely, rocking his hips, giving Lucio the beginning of the friction and movement he needs.

Lucio moans aloud, thrusting up into him, then pulling him down for a hungry kiss and a muttered word of praise.

“Good… so good, Ilya,” he’s whispering into his mouth and then against his neck, kissing him everywhere, anywhere in a sweet chaos lust and affection. His fingers run over his pet’s bare chest and shoulders, and when he brushes the swollen nipples with questing fingertips Julian cries out. Lucio tugs on the chain, not hard, but there’s a responding whimper all the same. When Lucio, unable to resist, pushes him back so that he can dip his head and take one engorged nipples and then the other into his mouth, Julian keens with need, and pushes his head away, it’s too much for him. Still breathing hard Julian grinds into him, slow and deep, braces his hands against Lucio’s shoulders...

Wait,” Lucio breathes urgently, forestalling the more focused movement he feels waiting in his lover’s body, coiled and taut, ready to be unleashed. “Wait, not yet—“ so that for a long moment they’re both quite still, aching to move, both hearts throbbing with anticipation.

“Let me hold you, like— like this,” he breathes. As he’s saying it he sinks back into the cushion, closing his eyes, hands at the doctor’s running up the doctor’s waist, smoothing over his sides, then settling at his hips again. Oh, It feels so good just to be inside him, he wants to savor it, wants it to last and last, the slick, tight heat of him. He holds himself back for as long as he can, while his body demands *movement, friction, release.* He feels the rise of tension in them both, like an oncoming wave.

“You know we can do it more than once,” Julian says softly, leaning in to brush his lips against Lucio’s mouth. His kisses are barely there, matching the Count’s own restraint, making him want more. “We haven’t only this one time, you know.” His words are teasing. He slides his fingers into Lucio’s hair and tips his head back to graze at his throat, all lips and tongue.

Lucio lets him do it, closing his eyes to bask in the attention. Julian is… very good, with his mouth. He feels his own pulse racing, the drive toward movement building in him until it is an aching need.

“Do it,” he breathes finally. And it’s almost like he’s asking, not ordering, raw with need. “Ride me. Don’t stop. Don’t make me come until I say.” As an afterthought, he adds, “You can come when you like, as long as you don’t stop before I’m ready. I don’t mind if you… enjoy yourself.”

“You’re too generous, my Count,” his pet murmurs. His tone is teasing, but Lucio doesn’t feel the need to correct him.

His movements start slowly, accustoming them both to the way it feels, then he begins to raise and lower himself along the length of Lucio’s cock, letting it slide out of him until almost the tip, then sinking back down with a little stifled cry.

Lucio watches him, holding his hips, luxuriating in the feeling of being tended to by his beloved, his pleasure seen to, his eyes caught by his beauty.

But even like this, he’s getting too close. “Slow,” he breathes, gripping his hips, “I want to enjoy you. Don’t rush.”

“Yes, my lord,” his pet purrs, and lets Lucio drag him down for another deep, slow kiss. He enjoys the slide of his tongue, the taste of his mouth. Slowly now, Julian grinds into him as they kiss, and Lucio reward him with a fist wrapped around his cock, jerking him in little pulses. He likes his soft cries and the little lurches in his breathing, the hard stops in his body that make him stutter like a broken machine, every involuntary movement proving, again, the power Lucio has over him.

When Lucio lets go of his cock, leaning back and away, Julian resettles himself on his hips, slides up the greased length of him… and lets him slide out completely. Lucio feels a sense of loss, a keen need to be back inside him, but he waits, trusting him, letting him lead.

Julian bites his lip as he makes eye contact… then looks coyly away and down as he raises himself a little… when he lowers himself back down he traps Lucio’s prick between their bodies, where he slides along it until it’s snug between the tight cheeks of his ass, encased on all sides but no longer inside him. Julian watches his face once more as he slides against him, exacting but with the amount of pressure his body exerts, squeezing him, pressing him, moving against him. It’s like being jerked off by the tight muscles of his ass - there’s not enough pressure, not quite, to let him get off this way, but it’s good.

”*Now,*” Lucio gasps. “I need it. I need to be inside you.”

Julian’s eyes widen in feigned surprise. “Ohh? But I thought you wanted me to make it last, my lord Count Lucio?” He gives another slow slide against and around Lucio’s needy prick, the sensation as maddening as it is wonderful. He makes no move to obey, instead watching Lucio with an expression of guileless innocence.

Lucio lifts his chin, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Careful,” he says, although is tone is made less sharp by his too-obvious enjoyment of Julian’s movements, including his teasing.

Julian pretends to contrition, his smile sweetly apologetic as he readjusts himself to kneel across Lucio’s thighs, freeing Lucio’s hard cock so he can stroke it with one hand. “Forgive me, my lord. But I’m only going slow, as you’ve instructed! So that you can enjoy me… remember?”

“I remember. For now,” Lucio enunciates carefully, letting his head fall back like one drunk on wine as he enjoys the slow, deliberate strokes, “I’ll let you do as you like. But if your games don’t please me… I’ll take you apart, piece by piece, so that you’ll never again forget who you’re dealing with.” He breathing is slow and even, his cock responsive in his hands. It isn’t an empty threat.

He’s gratified to see Julian’s eyes widen in alarm… but then his rhythmic caresses slow even more as he knits his brows, in a wounded expression. “But I’m only trying to serve your needs, my lord Count Lucio. To be a good, obedient creature, to give you all the pleasure you require, all that you deserve.”

With every emphasis, he gives a slightly harder, deeper, more lingering press of Lucio’s cock, so that he’s constantly aching for more. He feels himself wanting to thrust, to pant, to demand more. Oh, but he’s good. Lucio groans with the effort of restraint, the building need in his body.

Julian smiles, knowingly. He knows too many of Lucio’s weaknesses, and for that Lucio hates him. But oh gods , he’s making him feel so good! He’ll… he’ll decide whether to punish him later. Right now he can’t think, he doesn't want to.

“Please, my beloved and powerful Count,” Julian is begging, in a sweetly pathetic way he goddamn well knows Lucio responds to, “Don’t hurt me! I’m nothing compared to you, I’m so helpless before your might! Oh please don’t take me apart, my lord!” Julian’s own cock is stiff, dripping precum onto Lucio’s belly.

“Then ride me before I have you replaced by someone who can follow orders,” He growls. When the desired response isn’t immediate, he looks into the doctor’s dancing eyes, his teasing smile, feeling naked beneath his gaze. “Ilya,” he whispers, almost keening with want, “Please! I need you.” Unthinking, he drags two fingers through the precum dripping from Julian’s cock, and sucks them clean, looking into his eyes.

Julian’s eyes fall closed as he groans, then he’s sinking back onto Lucio’s cock, and all Lucio’s thoughts are obliterated in the way it feels to be inside him again, the heat and the feel of him, the overwhelming *rightness* of it. Before he can tell him to move, for gods’ sake, he’s moving, working up and down Lucio’s desperate prick, the friction so *good*, as if maybe he’s never had anything in his life this good, ever. “Fuck, Ilya, I’m—“

But suddenly he’s not anymore, not imminently, because the movement has stilled, and Lucio whines aloud with frustration. Julian begins to move again… but differently, his hips moving in a circle, grinding and rocking as if he’s dancing. And maybe he is… he lifts his arms above his head, holding them in an almost artful position as he grinds and rocks on Lucio’s pelvis, with nothing but his thighs and hips to propel him, not holding onto anything. He looks like… he looks like a temple dancer, he should be veiled in silk and shrouded in sweet smoke, worshipped by a crowd. Lucio loses himself in his ridiculous eyes. Everything about this creature is completely unfair.

“Fuck,” Lucio gasps, giving up on telling him what to do, letting him do what he will. He lets his head fall back, dizzy with need, and Julian moves faster. It’s not enough, it’s still not enough. Lucio could practically sob with needing it… and then he does begin to move, to move the way he needs him to, rising up and down on Lucio’s cock, finishing each movement with a little thrust of his hips, working him hard and fast, giving him exactly what he needs, in the moment before the suspense would have become unbearable.

Lucio’s hips are moving helplessly in time with him, hands digging into his hips, as he hears himself, distantly, practically begging…. “I want it, I can’t wait any longer, I need to come inside you, now, let me have you, you’re mine, I need you, Ilya…”

Julian fucks him relentlessly, Lucio feels him chasing his climax almost as surely as if he was in Lucio’s own skin, knowing what he needs… he seems to balance on the edge of pleasure forever, it seems as if it will never end… and then it does, and he’s coming inside his beloved pet with an intensity that has him seeing darkness dancing before his eyes, with Julian’s name in his mouth. He feels also the heat of Julian’s release as he splashes cum against Lucio belly and up his chest, but his movements never falter, he rides out Lucio’s orgasm until Lucio is emptied out inside him and falls back, closing his eyes, pulling a still-panting doctor against his chest and just holding him, *holding* him, while they catch their breath.

Julian is the first to speak, asking in a voice far too sultry for someone who’s just finished working him over and then cumming so enthusiastically all over him, “So… when will you be taking me apart, oh cruel and sadistic Count?

Lucio runs fingers through his hair, sated and still glowing in the aftermath of their pleasure. “No such luck, Devorak. I’m afraid I enjoyed your games far too much.”

Julian tsks. “Pity.”

“There’s always next time. Don’t give up hope.”

Julian makes a show of sighing wistfully. “One day I’ll get what I deserve.”

“You’re already getting what you deserve, you wretch,” Lucio yawns against his shoulder. He rolls his hips against Julian where they’re still joined, and is rewarded with a soft cry as Lucio presses into him where he’s tender, over-sensitive from their energetic fucking.

“Hmmmm,” Julian purrs in his arms. His long limbs are draped around Lucio, who often feels as if he’s being made love to by a collection of sentient vines, his cheek nestled against his own. In just a moment, very soon now, Lucio is going to have to force him to get up, and then he’s going to compound the insult by sending him to fetch towels, and Lucio’s robe. Julian will complain, probably, but he’ll do it. He always does.

After that they’ll bathe, because they’re both a bit sticky in the middle and gold around the edges. They might eat something, and then they’ll fall asleep in Lucio’s comfortable bed - probably after Julian has pleaded to be fucked again. Lucio thinks he’s too tired for that - where does the doctor get his endless libido? - but it’s the work of a few minutes to take him in hand, or even faster to suck him off, and his over-the-top clinging gratitude is always so satisfying. Sometimes, when he needs it especially badly, he’ll cry afterward, and say that he doesn’t deserve his kindness, but it’s not even that much of a bother - and he has such a lovely cock. Lucio thinks he’s in a cocksucking mood, but he’ll decide when they get there.

For now, he holds him tightly, listening to the nighttime sounds of the palace and the world outside. He feels profoundly, wordlessly grateful.


End file.
